Boards

Ok, I'm now on my 8th driving lesson and I still do things like turn the ignition off while rolling backwards down a hill or speed up when I see a catepillar of day-tripping geriatrics shuffling along a zebra crossing. Is this normal? Or am I the worlds shittest driver?

Sometimes they're positioned awkwardly behind another lever. SOMETIMES they are disguised as the lights (mercedes benz, i am looking at you, you bastards.) Yes, there is no one universal position for such things.

the real moment of progression is when operating the gears suddenly clicks in your head. That's the real arse of driving which most people struggle with it - as soon at it becomes natural and you learn how to balance the clutch properly and feel the car struggling, then the rest will just fall into place.

Also, I can drive fluidly at high speeds on dual carriage ways....I just get cripplingly nervous when going through residential areas with narrow roads. I'm always concious that there's a school around the corner that's about to empty a crowd of div-brained children onto the streets...the sort of children who will bleach my incoming crash wagon from there field of vision inorder to get to the chip shop quicker.

Also, I tend to sweat quite alot. I've been driving at 70 and screaming at Martin to mop my brow :D

I really need to learn to drive to increase my chances of getting work, but because of how busy work can be (and my leaving town often) means I never get to keep at lessons for too long. I've had probably a grand total of fifteen lessons over two years, fuzzy on theory: would trying to get the thing out of the way in a week or two be a good idea?

1) you will start to be able to balance the car on the clutch instinctively, whether you’re on the level or flat, or going forwards or backwards.
2) you will start to have a proper sense of how big the car is, seeing it as an extension of your personal space.

These two things take time, and eight lessons really isn’t a lot. I wouldn’t expect these things to click until about double that. Once it occurs, then the act of driving becomes something that you do in the background, allowing yourself to observe and perceive hazards and dangers as your primary task.

Once of the things that driving instructors and pupils seem to think is that changing gears on a dual carriageway and pulling away on the flat is enough to teach clutch control. It isn’t. Get your instructor to take you to a housing estate with a garage area on a steep slope. Practice pulling away, turning, reversing, and holding the car in position all on the clutch. Get your feet moving instinctively.